Name: Alcaeus Nikolaou

Nicknames: Caeus (kay-iss) or "K"

Age: 25

Powers:

• Spirit Photography - The ability to channel magic into lenses to see beings and forces otherwise invisible (or otherwise incomprehensible) to the naked eye. Works with just about any solid transparent material and allows for pictures to be taken of anything revealed. Requires a bit of manual tuning to focus on different aspects, though it allows Alcaeus to see ghosts without being blinded by high concentrations of ambient mana or vice versa.
• Bullet Photography - The ability to capture active instances of magic using cameras, thereby erasing them. Works on spells in motion, including non-physical attacks of pokemon, digimon, demons and humans. Requires charging the camera for half a dozen seconds before each shot. Charge time for the next shot is halved if he captures the caster of a spell in the same photo as the spell. Not capable of stripping objects of enchantments or siphoning magic out of pokemon, digimon, demons, people, objects, or areas. Not capable of interrupting spellcasting. Can't actually erase a physical bullet.
• Knows the following "spells":
  
  • Purify - Sends out a sparkling projectile that cures the target of any status ailment. If it successfully cures a status condition, Alcaeus heals himself.
  • Flatter - Causes unnatural confusion within the target by complimenting them. The sentiments of the compliment are magically understood regardless of language barriers. Also buffs the target's magical capabilities. Alcaeus insists the compliment is just a verbal component.
  • Swagger - Causes unnatural confusion within the target via dismissive gestures such as a scoff or bored sigh. The gesture can be verbal; if so, the sentiment is magically understood. Increases the target's physical attack.
• Future spell learnset, listed in (loosely) planned order:
  
  • Tarunda - Lowers the target's attack for a while.
  • Dia - Small heal
  • Safeguard - Protects all allies from status conditions for a while.
  • Recarmdra - User dies. All allies who have died recently are revived.
  • Media - Small heal to all allies
  • Light Screen - Erects a wall of light to suppress magic damage for a while.
  • Reflect - Erects a wall of light to suppress physical damage for a while.
  • Diarama - Medium heal
  • Sukukaja - Increases the target's speed for a while.
  • Kouha - Small light damage
  • Dekunda - Removes all debuffs from all allies
  • Amrita Shower - Cures all allies of all ailments
  • Mediarama - Medium heal to all allies
  • Matarunda - Lowers the attack of all enemies for a while.
  • Garu - Small force damage.
  • Diarahan - Large heal
  • Hex - Ghostly attack that fires purple wisps at a target. Deals double damage if the target has a status ailment.
  • Recarm - Revives target with some HP.
  • Mediarahan - Large heal to all allies
  • Masukukaja - Increases the speed of all allies for a while.
  • Kouga - Medium light damage

This list is non-exhaustive but I intend to go through it slowly. I may or may not pick up speed as I get to the parts of the list that are just a matter of progression.

Weakness: Ice magic.

Bio: After graduating from the university of Hawai'i with a degree in theobiology and discovering his nascent magical potential while doing volunteer work throwing beached Pyukumuku back into the sea, Caeus decided to become a pokemon trainer. It seemed logical to do so at the time; It would look better on his resume compared to just being a lab assistant if he becomes an academic theobiologist, and he could use a pokemon companion for field work. To that end, the first thing Caeus did was to purchase a MAGAMI-brand Digivice, which came with a starter Digiegg, thinking it cheaper to catch a wild pokemon with its help rather than looking into pokemon breeding or even adoption fees. Considering his pickiness, maybe it would have been if he had gotten a less fancy digivice model, but he liked the digivolution management features and its ability to load abilities onto other digivolutions. Eventually the Digiegg hatched, and after caring for Nyokimon and later Monimon, it eventually digivolved into Monmon, and he was ready to capture a wild pokemon. The reason he was willing to wait so long, of course, was that he wasn't satisfied with the pokemon he could find around him. Even after digivolving into Monmon and visiting some hiking trails full of pokemon, nothing there caught his eye. Perhaps he was unfairly comparing them all to the adorable Pyukumuku he had been familiar with, but since he had learned to recreate their purify ability, and since both he and Pyukumuku were generally incapable of direct combat, he thought taking one along with him would lead to an imbalanced team. At the least, he got to take plenty of wildlife photos, some of which he managed to sell to a local magazine after it caught the eye of one of his friends. Eventually he made a habit out of doing that, and for a while that's all he did. It was during this time that he found that he had a somewhat unique affinity for camera lenses. It certainly didn't hurt to have as a photographer.

It was during a visit to the uninhabited islands further down the archipelago that he had a chance encounter with the rainbow serpent of Australian mythology. Although perhaps far from home, it is, after all, the rainbow itself, and Hawai'i has plenty of those to go around. Moist air from the ocean loses temperature as it rises over mountains, generating rainclouds from the precipitation, causing Hawai'i's mountains to be some of the wettest places in the world. Hell, there's a rainbow on every license plate. It might as well be Yurlungur's home away from home. Although, since Yurlungur tends to avoid populated areas, Caeus had no way of knowing this. All he knew is that there was a cool-looking pool of rainbow water to take pictures of.

Yurlungur isn't known to be a particularly wrathful deity, though like any sleeping snake, it's not exactly wise to disturb. What, you're going to find a glowing rainbow pool and not touch it? The stick he used to test it didn't disintegrate, so that means it's safe to touch, right? It's not like he drank it. No, it's none of your business if he was thinking about drinking it or not.

"wHa'DdYa ThInK yA dOiN'!?"

In awe at the beautiful serpent floating before him and the fact that, yes, it actually talks like that, all he could think to do was what he's been training to do for the past few months.

He took a picture of it before it was too late.

"EeHEEEEE!"

With an annoyed screech, it attacked, and Monmon, still quite young and inexperienced, couldn't hope to defend him against Yurlungur. Bullet Photography, as useful as it was, took too long to charge up against repeated attacks, and he couldn't defend Monmon just by erasing bullets, much less defeat Yurlungur in the process. Caeus did manage to slow Yurlungur down; at first he tried to reason with it, which mainly didn't work, which turned into begging and flattery, which surprisingly did work, at least for a while. Eventually, however, Monmon was defeated, and, at least wanting to guarantee her safety, he tried to send her, along with the pictures of Yurlungur, over to the magazine publishers via email. Unfortunately, his digivice didn't seem to have that feature, but since the email was already written up in the heat of the moment, an idea came to him. He sent the images, then warned Yurlungur that, were he to be killed now, people would know that Yurlungur did it. Its multicolored faces would be all over the news, sensationalized as a violent deity, which in turn meant that it wouldn't know peace, whether because it was seen as a danger or because the news forced it to change its very nature.

Yurlungur paused, then laughed, then called Caeus a "lItTlE rIpPeR". Upon asking for clarification, it said it was "fAiR dInKuM" and then asked why Caeus was "pOkIn' 'RoUnD mE bIlLaBoNg". Solely inferring from context, he explained that he was a photographer, and got into his line of work while looking for interesting species of pokemon to catch. Yurlungur then said an incomprehensible string of phrases that sounded vaguely insulting ("yA jUsT a DrOnGo FoLloWiNg FuRpHy FeR bLoOdY gAlAh!") before straightforwardly offering to come along with him. A wildlife photographer was perfect for boosting its reputation and literally showing off its colors. Plus, if Yurlungur followed him around a bit, Caeus wouldn't be able to spread any untoward rumors about it.

It went much as Yurlungur planned, appearing in magazine after magazine, and it enjoyed some time in the limelight. It grew stronger with its greater notoriety, though it became a bit more mellow and airheaded as a side effect due to the comparisons made between its morphology and toothless snakes. It also stopped using as much Australian lingo, perhaps because it had to be translated to the target audiences, who in turn began to disregard its speech quirks. Over time, its relationship with Caeus also became known within the business. Although not exactly regarded as a combat savant, having a minor deity at his beck and call while also being a magician and a digimon tamer made him a relatively ideal candidate for investigative journalism regarding the situation over in Japan. He wasn't fluent, but his conversational Japanese was actually pretty usable, so after some time spent brushing up on it and training - during which, Monmon acquired its first Champion Digivolution - he set off. Maybe he'd have better luck looking for a pokemon over in Japan.

Faction: Works under a subsidiary of the Zaibatsu, though he is unaware of this fact.

Team of Mons:

Name: Daena Riordan (Day-na Rye-ur-den)

Age: 22

Powers:

• Beatdown - Light to Heavy physical damage; the more HP Daena has, the stronger the attack.
• Energy Shower - Cures Confusion/Fear/Despair/Rage/Brainwash for all allies. A well-practiced skill she could use in her sleep. (metaphorically) Didn't even realize she was using magic to do it at first. Visually subtle and usable on entire crowds, though she might have trouble with stadiums and she can't use it through broadcasts.
• Soothing Melody - Daena begins singing, humming, or whistling a random song stuck in her head. Gradually restores a small amount of HP for all allies, for a while. The song gets stuck in everyone's head afterwards.
• Taunt - Daena employs the power of trash talk. The target is unable to use non-attacking moves.
• Taunt - Daena employs the power of trash talk, but more personal this time. The target's offenses are drastically increased, but their defenses are also drastically decreased.
• Taunting Aura - All it takes is one smug smirk. Makes enemies likely to target Daena for a while.
• Counter - Chance to counter enemy physical attacks, turning their attack against them.
• Null Confuse - Renders Daena immune to confusion. She dances with a Spinda on the regular, after all.

Daena is capable of developing her abilities as a mage further, though it will take time for her to do so.

Weakness: Dark magic

Bio: After graduating high school and deciding college wasn't for her, Daena coasted for a while. She and Spin were part of a dance troupe, but after they got eliminated on a certain reality competition show, the drive to continue just wasn't there for most of her friends, and the group ended up disbanding. They stayed friends, but after a year and a half, she (and Spin) were the only ones who were still dancing regularly, even if just as a hobby. Some of them went off to college, others focused on their jobs and careers, but Daena refused to give up on dancing professionally.

After trying out various forms of gig work, She found relatively steady employment as a go-go dancer. It was fun and a surprisingly good workout, although Spin wasn't allowed to dance in most places, and never twice in the same place. She made plenty of friends among the other dancers, had a couple of short-lived and ill-advised relationships, and the bartenders often gave the dancers free drinks. (The legal drinking age in Australia is 18 after all) She thought it was great, but her parents hated it, which eventually led them to helping her rent out a space to use as a dance studio. After a bit of local advertising, her dance classes (plus calisthenics classes on the side) saw a fair amount of success. She was paying back her parents for their financial help while also making a tidy profit. A couple of her old friends even visit her studio every so often, performing their old routines with her.

For Daena's 21st birthday, her parents decided they should all go on vacation in Hawai'i. She was hesitant to pause her studio's classes, but they reminded her that they never got to celebrate her studio's success. Plus, she's always loved Spin ever since she caught her in her high school years, and Spin had a bit of internet fame in her own right as a Pokemon that loved to dance. Even if it was wobbly dancing, she could learn routines and coordinate with Daena, who, in turn, could improvise and compensate when needed. They suggested that she could see a lot of rare and unique Pokemon on the islands, so she packed some pokeballs, just in case one caught her eye. Her parents expected her to catch an Oricorio or something, and while she did run into some on their tour of the islands, she didn't vibe with the snooty birds. Instead, she saw him while she was hiking on Kaua'i: big, cute, majestic, and very fruity. It was love at first sight. It is perhaps not advisable to hug wild Pokemon, but she couldn't help but think he was cuddly, and, as she will remind her parents every time they bring it up, she was right! He is cuddly! Also, the impromptu flight while dangling around its neck like a necklace was exhilarating. The view from up in the sky was amazing. Besides, Tropius - Trops for short, couldn't shake her off if he tried, and he did. It's not like she was lacking in upper-body strength, so a little loop-de-loop just gave her more leverage to climb up onto its back. From there there was little Trops could do but give in. And by give in, of course, I mean land so as to avoid plummeting to the Earth like Satan falling from Heaven, then do battle with the insane woman and the Spinda who seemed to be upset it wasn't let out of its pokeball while in mid-air.

Thus, an eternal bond was forged.

Her parents gave her an earful when they regrouped, but after getting Trops healed up she spent most of the remainder of the trip flying around on him, because she could fly around on a Pokemon now. While her parents had reservations about owning such a large Pokemon, they couldn't bring themselves to say anything about it because of how enamored she was with Trops. Despite their initial encounter NOT being an instance of cuddling, as they will remind her every time it is brought up, Trops is, in fact, cuddly.

The rest of her vacation went much as could be expected. They toured all the islands, she found a very cool rock near Kilauea that sparkled in just about every color ever, and then they flew home. Then disaster struck.

Daena's father lost his job. Daena's mother fell ill. Daena's father was given a shady job offer, then abruptly went missing. Her dance studio's popularity began to wither overnight, and she closed it, going back to go-go dancing to help pay for her mother's medical bills, only it wasn't as fun anymore. When she talked about her situation with one of her friends, they mentioned that it was weird that her bad luck only started when she got back from Hawai'i, recalling a similar story they had heard from another person. Her friend laughed it off, saying it might have just been their sunburn, and while Daena outwardly agreed, something about the timing did seem weird. After one google search she had her answer: Pele's curse.

Legend has it, a twentieth-century park ranger, angry at the number of rocks that were being taken from the islands by visitors, said that Pele would curse them with bad luck should they take anything from the islands. Except, it wasn't a legend. To say nothing of the tangible effects the curse has on tourists, Demons were known to exist, causing societal upheavals in Japan and lesser mischief the world over. Pele, goddess of volcanoes and other things, had to be real, and also to blame. She grabbed the sparkly rock and booked a plane ticket back to Hawai'i island.

The standard solution to Pele's curse was simple: Mail whatever you took back to the islands. However, Daena did not want Pele's forgiveness. Daena wanted revenge. That's why, with Spin and Trops by her side, she flew straight to Kilauea's caldera, well past designated safe areas, just so she could throw the sparkly rock in with enough force that it shattered on impact against the partially hardened lava. She then proceeded to scare away some Slugma as she screamed out how much of a "punk-ass bitch" Pele is.

Not about to take the insult lying down, Pele showed herself, and after it was established that Daena couldn't speak Hawaiian, Pele called her an "insolent" child. Daena responded by saying she would shove her "insole" up Pele's "end". At this point Trops was scared, but Spin was perfectly ready to throw down with a god. They began to fight, and despite the burns, the two of them managed to give Pele a run for her money, confusing her with Teeter Dance before Daena punched her in the face. Eventually Pele had had enough, and with her homefield advantage, she threatened to make the volcano erupt. Daena told her to do it, unafraid. She could always fly away on Trops, but mostly her anger and anguish drowned out her sense of self-preservation. She told Pele of how her family suffered from her curse, and while Pele, a goddess of passion, could empathize, she blamed Daena for her foolish greed. Daena responded by yelling that it was a single stupid rock, and that they were standing amidst sparkly volcanic rocks as far as the eye could see. Pele conceded the point, but pointed out that if there weren't consequences, millions of humans would take and take until there was nothing left.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't treat these stupid rocks as more valuable than human lives like you! Why don't you sneeze into the ocean and make a billion more, since you care so much about them!?"

"You are testing my patience, child."

"And you broke mine! My everything! Dad's gone, mom's sick, and my dance studio's being used for fucking ballerina lessons! And for what!? A stupid rock I didn't know I couldn't take!?"

Daena couldn't take it anymore. She started to cry, right there next to the caldera. Pele looked on in a mixture of guilt and annoyance, which shifted over time away from the latter and further to the former as Daena kept letting out her emotions. Trops came out of hiding to join Spin in helplessly trying to comfort her. After a few minutes of ugly crying, Pele, with great reluctance, decided to take pity on Daena. She would not only lift the curse, but help undo the effects of the curse on Daena's life. Daena, hearing this, demanded Pele promise this, and she did, in exchange for Daena promising to learn and teach hula dancing. One of Pele's many epithets is the goddess of hula, after all, and foreign influences as well as tourism had not been kind to the preservation of Hawaiian culture. Pele curtly taught Daena how to summon her to Australia solely so Pele could avoid the plane ride there, and from there it was a rather simple matter for Pele. Daena's mother's illness had gone away as soon as the curse was lifted, and her father was easy to find afterward. Getting Daena's dance studio back was trickier, though, since Daena vetoed Pele's plan to scare them away with a supposed toxic gas leak using real vog. As they mulled over the problem, time passed. At some point, Pele was appalled at how lax of a trainer Daena was, at least on Trops. He was a bit too big and not quite graceful enough to dance with her and Spin, so he was mostly left to do as he pleased. Daena asked why she would train Trops, and Pele simply asked why she had such a cumbersome Pokemon around if not to be a Pokemon trainer. Daena responded by saying that there was simply more of Trops to love, but though Daena would never admit it, even to herself, Pele did raise a valid point. They had a sizeable backyard, and Trops could be let indoors to an extent, but he didn't have much space to maneuver. A housepet Trops was not, and though Daena remained adamant that it could work out, Pele proposed an alternate solution to her financial problems: Instead of trying to get her dance studio back (sharing the space was not an option after it had been painted pastel pink) or continuing to dance in nightclubs, (Pele thought it "demeaning" because she hates fun) she could become a Pokemon trainer. Pele would even deign to offer her assistance in the matter, a move that was not at all a ploy to gather faith and increase her own power. Nope, no sirree.

Daena needed some time to think on it. She didn't think herself much of a fighter, although that was one thing Pele disagreed with and would sing her praises on, probably just because she got beaten by her. (Even if it wasn't an all-out fight) Eventually Daena agreed to give it a shot, even doing a bit of planning on what her full team would look like. Because Pele obviously specialized in fire magic and Trops was strongest under the sun, (the sitrus berries he produces were pretty good) she figured she should go for a sun team. The Drought ability would be great for that, but Ninetales struck her as too much of a frou-frou, noise-pointed-skywards type of Pokemon, judging based on appearances, and she had enough of fiery divas with just Pele, thanks. Torkoal was her preferred option, but Pele rejected the idea of another fire type at all, claiming she could provide all the fire the team needed. That left... uh... She didn't know, actually. Weren't all Drought Pokemon fire type?

Pele rejected the notion that there wasn't a random Pokemon out there that could make it sunnier better than most Pokemon. She even tried to make Tropius do it, and while she managed to teach it Sunny Day, she wasn't having any luck changing its ability.

A little bit more research pointed Daena towards Divine Powers, a research organization known for producing creatures with strange and/or unusual properties. The only thing was that they were based in Japan. Daena's always been good with languages, so that was no problem for her. She just didn't bother to learn something as useless as Hawaiian, a fact she stated out loud to Pele. She had to apologize to her parents for scorching their backyard before departing for Japan, and her parents in turn made her apologize to Pele. Who's training who here?

Pele's helped her a lot as a trainer - to the point where Pele's practically as much of a trainer to Spin and Trops as she is.

Faction: Currently unaligned.

Team of Mons: